Beverage preparation machines such as coffee or tea brewing machines are well known. It is known to provide beverage preparation machines which dispense individual servings of beverage directly into a receptacle such as a cup. Such machines may derive the beverage from a bulk supply of beverage ingredients or from packages of beverage ingredients such as pods, pads or cartridges. An example of one type of such packages is shown in EP1440903. In the following specification such packages will be referenced by the general term cartridges. However, the invention is not limited to use with one particular type of pod, pad or cartridge. The beverages are formed from brewing, mixing, dissolving or suspending the beverage ingredients in water. For example, for coffee beverages, heated water is passed through the cartridges to form the extracted solution. The use of cartridges in such machines has become increasingly popular due to their convenience and the quality of the beverage produced.
For convenience it is known for such machines to include a mechanism for ejecting the cartridges from the delivery head of the machine after each dispense cycle. However, typically, such mechanisms are complex and require a delivery head which is bulky. In addition, the need for a mechanism for ejecting the cartridges and a mechanism for clamping the cartridges adds to the complexity of the machine and can result in a clamping and ejecting method which is mechanically complicated. It is an object of the present invention to provide a delivery head and beverage preparation machine incorporating an improved ejection mechanism.